POLICE response times in the Camberley area are getting worse because of a shortage of front line officers, a well-placed source has claimed.

He says a new system, called targeted patrol teams (TPTs), designed to get police to call outs quicker is not working.

And too many officers are having to be sent out alone in patrol cars, rather than in pairs, putting their safety at risk. Because they are thin on the ground it could take up to 20 minutes for back up to arrive to a serious incident.

But Surrey police chiefs refuted the claims and said the force has always used a combination of single and doubled crewed teams.

The allegations came to light when the source told the News that staff at a Camberley High Street pub were put in danger when someone pulled a knife on a bouncer — but it took police 25 minutes to arrive.

No one has been caught for the offence and the source said if police had attended quickly, they would probably have caught the knifeman.

The morale of officers on TPT duties was low, the source added, and the feeling among ordinary officers was that there were “too many chiefs and not enough Indians” in the force.

He said: “We seem to have 50 Surrey Police staff sat around deciding how a few officers should go about their duties.

“Surely it should be the other way round with less people making the decisions in order to get more cops out on the streets.”

Changes to policing methods were introduced by the Chief Constable Denis O’Connor on January 27, 2002. He modelled the system on his experiences in Kent.

The source believed the system could work if there were enough police officers — but while the force was undermanned, the Chief Constable should revert back to area policing.

Before this, the north-west policing division — which includes Surrey Heath — was split into four areas, the source told the News.

Ten to 12 officers provided cover for the borough, with ten providing assistance in Woking, plus a further six officers in the Byfleet and Old Woking area.

Woking and Byfleet were then amalgamated but the number of police officers covering the larger area dropped by six.

Thirdly, Surrey Heath and Woking were joined, but with only five to six targeted patrol vehicles — with one officer per vehicle — covering the area.

“It’s dangerous for police officers as back-up is 20 minutes away, in most cases, and it’s the public that is suffering as well,” the source said.

“The public ask for assistance and the phone call is logged and put into a queue until the TPT officers can deal with it. The more serious an incident, the higher up the list it is, but it’s still pretty poor.”

He added the force “was so strapped” for police officers that TPT cars were being sent out with single officers in them, instead of being double-crewed.

“This is all the time — it’s virtually every day, and these are the officers that are in the most danger.”

The source said: “The press office will dismiss the reports as exaggerated, but I can assure you that they’re not.”

He admitted during the first month the system had worked well but problems arose two to three months later.

The source said: “The majority of officers feel that the Chief Constable has done — and is doing — a good job.

“But he needs to be aware that because of the lack of manpower, officers are being put in danger on TPT and the public are being let

down because of slow response times.”

In response, Chief Insp Charlie Doyle said he was vigilant about the safety of his officers. Single officer patrols were normally acceptable, except at night when most were doubled up for safety reasons.

“A large proportion of incidents attended do not require the services of two officers. However, the ratio of single to double-crewed units is normally maintained at 60:40.

“Experience dictates that officers are more likely to face increased risk during the hours of darkness. The crewing policy reflects this.

“Consequently, this ratio of doubled crewed units increases and is closer to 10:90 during those hours.”